


Tattered and Torn

by TheDragonsDance



Category: Red Eye (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Anxiety Disorder, Chest infection, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fear of hospitals, Fever, Mentions of kidnapping, Minor Original Character(s), Original Character Death(s), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Scars, redemption arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:20:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28758720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDragonsDance/pseuds/TheDragonsDance
Summary: Jackson Rippner has escaped from custody, and, to get back into the field, he revisits a girl he once kidnapped for the man he worked for, the girl's father.Kyara Lanson is the definition of a train wreck. She suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder following the boating accident that killed two of her cousins. Then, another piece of the past returns, but she doesn't know if it's to haunt her or help her.
Relationships: Jackson Rippner/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 4





	1. Broken

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm finally writing this. I just love Cillian Murphy characters so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do see this as taking place in 2018 or 19
> 
> Also, quick warning, there is some graphic descriptions of a injuries, mentions of death, and some vomiting in this chapter.

Kyara woke up screaming. Her mouth was dry, and she felt the tears on her cheeks.

She was hyperventilating, her heart racing.

_Just a dream. Just a dream. It's okay. You're not on fire._

This did nothing to calm her down, and all she could do was wait for the panic attack to subside. With each heaving breath, her chest screamed in pain.

The chest infection had been a major pain for the last two weeks. Not only did it make her feel awful, or even more awful than usual, the fucking thing didn't seem to be getting better. If anything, it was getting worse.

Shakily, Kyara stood up, and headed into the bathroom. She splashed herself with cold water, and looked in the mirror.

She barely recognized her own reflection. She was even paler than usual, with dark circles under her haunted amber eyes. She looked as broken as she felt, which was not a flattering thing, especially for a former model.

Her thoughts, as they so often did, drifted back to the night of the accident. It was supposed to be fun, a little adventure on the lake at night.

_"Don't worry Kya." Her oldest cousin, Ben, joked. "We won't let the lake monster get you."_

It had been his favorite joke, stemming from the day when she was seven, and he was ten. They'd been playing in the lake by her mother's cottage, pretending they didn't hear the adults talking about "The son of a bitch", also known as Kyara's father. Ben had gone into deeper water, and called her a chicken for hesitating. Reluctantly, she'd started to swim out to him, when a dead pike floated out from under the dock, and bumped her leg. Kyara was sure people across the lake must have heard her screaming. She'd paddled frantically back to shore, and run shrieking into the cottage, where she'd hidden under her mother's bed.

Ben had teased her about it ever since. Every time she went swimming, he'd tell her to 'watch out for the lake monster. He might get you this time.' and so on.

It had been a new moon, not much light to go by. They'd had their lights on, the other boat, with it's very drunk occupants, had not had their lights on.

The other, bigger boat had rammed them at a very high speed. What happened next was all fragmented, she couldn't remember clearly.

She'd been knocked unconscious by the impact, and had woken up with the realization that her lower back was all burnt from when the gas tank exploded. She'd managed to roll into the water, dazed and disoriented, her whole body had been in agony. She vaguely remembered calling out to Ben and Alex, but getting no reply.

Then she'd found Ben, floating face down in the water, all burnt and bloodied. They'd told her later that he'd died from the shockwave of the gas tank exploding, that he hadn't felt anything.

It was a cold comfort.

Alex, on the other hand had still been alive when she found him, though he was bleeding profusely from a head wound.

The police had arrived around fifteen minutes later, after Kyara's mother had seen the explosion.

Kyara didn't remember much of the ride to the hospital, it was all a blur, she'd gone into shock at this point anyway.

What she wished she could forget, was actually being rushed into the ER, and the subsequent stay there. At some point upon the trip to the hospital, she'd started vomiting blood, and had been immediately taken to surgery.

She'd woken up later, in a state of complete panic. When a nurse had asked her if she was in pain, Kyara had only whispered "Alex." before she passed out again.

When she'd come around again, her mother was there with her, explaining that Alex was in a coma, and that Kyara herself had suffered from internal bleeding, a collapsed lung, and a fractured sternum, not to mention the third degree burns on her back.

It was three days later that Kyara was taken in a wheelchair to see Alex. She'd just sat there with him for hours, before being taken back to her own room.

Two days later, Alex died.

The doctors said that she was lucky to have survived, but Kyara didn't _feel_ lucky.

And now the chest infection. She refused to even think about going to the hospital, which was where she had spent so much time suffering. She couldn't go back to it. So she did her best to cope on her own.

It had been easy enough for Jackson to find out where Kyara lived, when he'd searched her name, he'd found that she'd been involved in a boating accident that had left four people dead. The picture showed her exactly as he remembered her from three years prior, when David Knotts had sent him to bring her, his daughter, to him. When Jackson had taken her, she had put up a hell of a fight, but when he finally got her in the car, she hadn't panicked. She'd just glared at him the entire drive, never saying a thing.

He'd watched her for weeks before hand, learning her routine. Over that time, he'd started to have some... feelings for her. He just hadn't known how strong they were until he read that she was almost killed eight months earlier.

Again, Jackson studied the picture on the screen. She was a beautiful girl, and the picture was striking. She was on a beach in it, wearing a gold and black bikini, her long, dark brown hair flowing in the wind, her tawny golden eyes seeming to stare straight through the camera.

The caption under the photo read ' _Model Kyara Lanson is one of the two survivors of the tragic boating accident that took place on Saturday.'_

The picture had been taken seven weeks before the accident.

Curious, Jackson peered through binoculars into her apartment. He had almost laughed when checking into the hotel, finding that the room exactly across from hers was available for booking. The door of Kyara's bedroom brought his attention back to the present, as he focused on the girl he'd come to see.

She was still stunningly beautiful, but in a colder, more distant type of way, the air of playfulness that had surrounded her the last time he'd watched her was gone, and she looked... exhausted.

Concerned, Jackson set the binoculars down, pacing around the room. Noting when Kyara disappeared into the bathroom.

Kyara grabbed hold of the counter to steady herself, swallowing hard a nausea washed over her.

Doubling over, she vomited into the sink. It was red.

Kyara closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that she had only imagined the blood.

That happened sometimes. She had flashbacks.

With a sigh, she washed out the sink, and headed back out into the living area. After a moment, she decided that tea would be a good idea, and headed into the kitchen.

Just as she was putting the kettle on, she heard a knock at the door.

While debating whether or not to answer it, she heard the lock click. Alarmed, she grabbed a carving knife out of the knife block on the counter.

She turned to face the intruder, and felt her jaw drop open in shock.

Standing in her kitchen, was Jackson Rippner.


	2. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rippner and Kyara have a discussion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Flashbacks, ptsd.

For a moment, both were still. Then Kyara drew herself up, swallowing hard as nausea hit again.

“Jackson Rippner.” Her voice was raspy, but still held an edge of anger in it. “I heard you’d been caught.”

“As you can see, Kyara, I escaped.”

“And what? Come to kidnap me again?”

Rippner rolled his eyes. “I didn’t kidnap you, I escorted you to your father.”

“Against my will.” She hissed, grip tightening around the knife.

He shrugged. “No. I didn’t come to take you to your father.”

“Then why?” Kyara asked, irritation showing through exhaustion.

“I wanted to see your father. Where can I find him?” Rippner asked her.

“I wouldn’t know. I cut off all contact.” Kyara said coolly.

“Ah.” Rippner didn’t seem terribly upset.

“Now leave.” Kyara said, gripping the carving knife tighter.

“You don’t look so good.” Had it been anyone else, she may have thought him concerned. But this was Rippner, a man who had literally dragged her to see her father. 

“I didn’t ask for your opinion.” Kyara managed, though her voice shook.

“Are you ill?” Rippner asked her, walking towards her. Kyara raised the knife, glaring at him.

“Get away from me.” She rasped.

Rippner eyed the knife, then looked back at Kyara. “Put that down.” He told her, his voice soft.

“I said, get away from me.” She just wanted him to leave, she felt sick, and her chest hurt, though not as bad as…

_ No. Not now.  _ Kyara mentally pleaded, but it was too late, the flashback had already started.

_ Every breath sent shockwaves of pain through her body, the freezing cold of the water around her doing nothing to numb the agony in her chest. Strange. The water hadn’t been this cold when she’d been swimming earlier.  _

_ ‘Shock. I’m in shock.’ Kyara told herself, clinging tighter to the life ring, doing her best to keep Alex’s head above water. _

_ She glanced over at Ben, wondering if she should have pulled his upper body onto the life ring too. _

_ ‘It doesn’t matter.’ She decided, numbly. ‘He’s beyond help now.’ _

_ She could hear someone crying, but Kyara was too tired to wonder who. In her mind, a small voice was telling her to stay awake, that she had to stay awake, or else she would die. _

_ “I’m sorry.” She whispered, glancing over at Ben. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.” _

_ Then a dull roar filled her ears, and a painfully bright light shone in her face. _

_ She watched, as if from a dream, as a man lowered down on a rope, and told her to hang on. _

_ They took Alex up first. Kyara watched as his body disappeared into the white light. _

_ When the man lowered down again, Kyara was crying. _

_ “I can’t leave him.” Kyara told him, grabbing hold of Ben’s arm. But she couldn’t fight either, even as the man clipped a harness around her, and fastened it to his. She watched as Ben’s body grew more and more distant. _

_ “It’s okay kid. We won’t leave him.” The man told her, before she was placed on her side, and wrapped in blankets. _

_ A woman with kind eyes told her it was going to be okay. And the rest was a blur. _

Kyara snapped back to the present, and realized that Rippner was gently shaking her shoulders.

“Can you hear me? Kyara?” He asked.

“Don’t touch me.” Kyara spat. “Don’t you  _ fucking _ dare-” She cut off as she began to cough. Her vision went black at the edges, her lungs straining with each painful spasm. She curled forward, hugging her ribs.

Rippner reached out to her, and Kyara shook her head in warning, she twisted and spat in the sink.

She blinked, hard, but there was no change.

This time there really was blood in the phlegm.

_ Oh shit. _

Rippner peered over her shoulder, and she saw him wince.

“I told you to go away.” She whined, no longer caring if she sounded like a petulant child. 

“You need to go to the hospital.” Rippner told her.

“No.” Kyara said, as forcefully as she could manage. “I’m not going back to the fucking hospital.”

She couldn’t handle going through all that pain again.

Jackson sighed as Kyara turned away, rinsing out the sink. 

“Why are you really here, Rippner?” She asked, not even looking at him. 

_ Because I needed to see you. I wanted to be close to you. _

_ Because I fucking love you. _

“I told you, I wanted to see your father.” He lied.

“I don’t believe you.” Kyara said flatly, now she did look at him, her tawny amber eyes burning holes in him. “You know that I don’t keep contact with him. So why did you come to me?”

Jackson hesitated. “I heard about your accident…” He said cautiously.

She laughed hoarsely. “Who hasn’t?” Her tone was bitter.

“I wanted to…”  _ Make sure you are okay. And you’re not. _

“Wanted to what?” She looked almost curious now, despite the exhaustion on her face.

_ Fuck. Might as well tell her. _

“I wanted to see if you were okay.” He said, voice colder now.

Kyara drew back, clearly surprised. “Why?” She asked, the edge to her voice gone.

“Why do you think?” He snapped, looking out her window.

“Are you trying to say you like me?” Kyara asked him, a slight rasp in her voice.

“No.” He growled, turning to face her. “No. I am not saying I  _ like _ you. I am saying that I am goddamn in love with you.”

Kyara could not have been more shocked if a meteorite came crashing through her window.

Jackson Rippner was  _ in love _ with her?

She took a deep breath, regretting it when her chest screamed in protest, and then met Rippner’s icy blue eyes.

“How can you love me? You don’t know me.”

“Oh, I do, Kyara.” He told her, but his voice had lost it’s angry edge. “Do you know how long your father had me watch you?”

Cold dread ran through her stomach. “No.” She replied, trying not to panic. 

“2 months before I took you to him, and then he’d have me check on you every now and again.”

“Oh.” It was all she could say.

Rippner sighed. “Don’t be scared of me. I didn’t come here to hurt you.”

“You can’t help me.” She said, though she didn’t know why she was telling him this. “No one can help me.”

Jackson heard the despair in her voice.

“Chest infections are easy to cure.”

“I didn’t mean the fucking infection.” Kyara said tiredly. “I meant… Never mind.” She turned away, hugging her arms.

“You meant what?”

For a moment, she did not answer.

“Kyara?” Jackson pressed. “You meant what?”

“The boating accident.” 

“Kyara-”

“I’m broken.” She whispered, barely audible. “I’m broken and no one can fix me.” 

And just like that, she started to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always thought that Rippner would have no chill in these situations, which is why I just had him angrily tell Kyara everything.  
> Kyara, on the other hand, is having a breakdown.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave me a comment!


End file.
